Drabble Collection
by Andrea O'Down
Summary: A collection of drabbles from my drabble-challenge over on tumblr. (If you want to join, please check my profile page for more info.)
1. Where Your Heart Is

_For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)_

_This is for an anon who asked for "Home" and "Donatello"._

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><p><span><strong>Where Your Heart Is<strong>

Donatello ran over the cold rooftop, reaching its edge and jumped over to the next roof without losing any speed. He kept running and jumping, running and jumping, the cold wind ringing in his ears the only noise aside from the constant mumbling of New York City's traffic and inhabitants. But the wind was closer, more real. It was right _there_.

He ran over roof tops and roof tops of buildings with lots and lots of apartments where families were having dinner now or children were doing their homework or watching TV or playing board games. But in a way they were all doing the same – enjoying being in their homes, their warm, cozy homes.

His home on the other hand was down in the sewers, an old abandoned subway station. And it was far from warm and cozy, it was rather cold during winter, and he could only imagine what it must be like to be able to open a window in the morning and inhale fresh air.

And they didn't even call it a home, they called it their lair. Big difference.

He sighed as he jumped down a fire escape.

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><p>When he pushed past the turnstiles he stopped for a moment.<p>

Yes, this was it, his cold, not so cozy home.

He set eyes on his brothers who were gathered in the living room.

"Hey Donnie!" Leo greeted him. "Wanna join us for some 'Super Robo Mecha Force Five!'-episodes?"

"Sure thing!" Donnie replied with a smile and took a seat next to Leo.

And there, watching his favorite TV show with his brothers, a warm feeling built inside his stomach and spread through his body, making him feel warm despite the slight coldness of the lair.

What was the saying again? Your home is where your heart his?

It turned out, that Donnie's heart was right there with his family in an old, abandoned, cold, and not so cozy subway station.


	2. Secret Boyfriend

__For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)__

_This is for fivefootoh who asked for "Irma" and "suspicion". :)  
><em>

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><p><strong><span>Secret Boyfriend<span>**

"Bye, Irma!" April called out as she ran past her friend. "I…gotta meet Casey now, for a…uhm…date. See you tomorrow!"

Irma replied to that with a little wave and a weak smile.

Was April really thinking she was that stupid? She shook her head.

April had been acting weird for way too long now, and Irma decided she had to get to the bottom of this…whatever it was.

Using a date with Casey as an excuse was just damn stupid. Irma had known that from the start. If April really wanted to spend time with Casey, then why did she always ask Irma to join them? No, this was weird, really, really weird.

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><p>With a sigh Irma looked down at the piece of paper. She had made a list of all the possibilities of why April would act that weird. And now she needed to go through that list once more and check what could be true and what couldn't.<p>

"Dates with Casey" – Irma shook her head and struck that out. She had been through this already.

"Being in a secret society" – Irma had checked and double-checked if there were some weird signs on April's clothes or her messenger bag or even some tattoo – yes, she had gone that far to glance at her friend in the locker room before gym class, but hey, she was worried! –, and now, there wasn't anything. So she struck that out, too.

"Knowing about an alien invasion" – Gosh, she definitely shouldn't have watched this sci-fi movie yesterday! Just because the protagonist in that movie had known about an alien invasion because of his weird dreams and hadn't told anyone because that would have led into mass panic and chaos and because he had tried to handle this alone, didn't mean the same went for April. Struck out, once more.

"Having a secret boyfriend" – This was the last point on her list, and from what she could tell it was the only logical one. If April had a boyfriend and didn't know how her friends would react to him, she of course would keep him a secret. Or maybe she was afraid her father wouldn't approve that his little girl had a boyfriend. So of course she wouldn't tell anyone, so no one could blab about it to her father.

Irma sighed again. April should know her better than that. She would never give away her secret! She could tell her!

But yes, this was it, she thought as she tapped the paper where this last point was written down. April had a secret boyfriend.


	3. Ice Ballet

__For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)__

_This is for an anon who asked for "Casey Jones" and "figure skating"._

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><p><strong><span>Ice Ballet<span>**

Casey took a deep breath, going once more through the routine in his head. There was this spin there and this incredible jump there and this axel jump at the end.

One more deep breath and he stepped on the ice.

Who would ever have thought that he would do figure skating one day? But his ice hockey trainer had asked him if he wanted to try it to improve his moves, and so far, Casey was doing a good job – as long as he could train alone with the trainer or practice in the ice rink long after the last ice hockey player had gone home.

His balance had gotten better thanks to this training, he had to admit, so he continued training. And believe or not, he actually had fun!

With a smile on his face he started skating and did his first spin, and then it was all about his routine, but he was still smiling when he did the axel jump at the end. And then it was over and he spread his arms as if to thank his audience although he knew no one was there.

Well, that was what he had thought at least, and his eyes widened when he heard someone clapping.

He looked over to the boards. And then his eyes widened even more when he found the turtles and April standing there. April was clapping eagerly while the others just looked at him with the biggest grins on their faces one could muster up.

"Wh…what are you doing here?" Casey asked and skated over to them.

"We thought you might want to join us on patrol, but turned out you were busy doing ice ballet," Raph replied with a chuckle.

"It's called figure skating!" Casey said. "And I do it to improve my ice hockey moves."

"Oh, I see," Raph said, nudging Leo. "Hey, Leo, maybe we should start doing ballet to improve our ninjutsu moves."

"I don't think you guys are going to find tutus that fit," Casey said with a glare.

"Says the guy who's probably hiding a pink tutu in his locker!" Raph said, and then he couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter, and the others joined in almost immediately, because they all now had this picture of Casey in a pink tutu in their heads.

Well, all except for April who moved closer to Casey.

"If my opinion counts for anything, Casey," she said just loud enough so he could hear her over all the laughter, "I think you did great."

Casey smiled at her. "Thanks, Red!"

And suddenly, all this laughter wasn't so annoying any longer.


	4. Funny Failures

__For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)__

_This is for nicollini who asked for "April" and "TV". :)_

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><p><strong><span>Funny Failures<span>**

With a sigh April slumped down on the couch. This had been one hell of a school day, but finally, she was back home.

She reached for the remote control and started zapping through the channels. A smile appeared on her face when she found what she had been looking for, and pretty soon she was laughing like crazy.

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><p>"April, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come in here without your permission, but I called like three times and knocked at the window and…." Leo stopped abruptly as he entered the living room and found April nearly rolling off the couch in laughter.<p>

"April, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes, yes, I am!" April replied and beckoned him over.

With a frown Leo sat down next to her.

"Look at that! It's called 'Takeshi's Castle'," April said and pointed at the TV. "It's sooooo funny!"

Still frowning, Leo turned to the TV where some strange show was on. He got it that it was Japanese with English dubs and people, some of them in funny looking costumes, had to perform tasks, like crossing a mud pool. He still didn't understand why April was laughing like crazy when the third challenger landed in the brown sludge.

April glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

"Oh, come on, Leo!" she said and turned to him. "Don't tell me that's not funny!"

"I don't know, April," Leo replied. "I don't think failure is funny."

April rolled her eyes. "You ever going to give up on your über-correct behavior? Besides, I saw you laughing at your brothers' failures during training."

"That's something completely different!" he explained. "That's my brothers. I know them, and they know I don't mean to be rude. But a stranger wouldn't know that and maybe think I'm an impolite person."

April rolled her eyes again. "First, these strangers can't hear you and they know what they got themselves into and that people would laugh, and second, for heaven's sake, just relax, Leo! Laugh a little! It will do you good! And if it helps, imagine these are your brothers!"

And with that she turned back to the TV.

Leo watched her with a frown, then turned back to the TV himself. He could at least give it a try.

The next challenger was very tall and scrawny, so he decided to imagine him as Donnie. And then "Donnie" fell into the mud pool when he tried to jump to the next platform.

And before Leo knew what he was doing, he burst into laughter himself.


	5. Split Tongue

_For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)_

_For an anon who asked for "Splinter" and "snakes"._

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><p><strong><span>Split Tongue<span>**

Splinter walked over to the living area, glancing at the TV when he descended the stairs.

One of these documentaries his second-youngest son loved so much was on.

Splinter smiled. Donatello and his curiosity. He would watch anything to increase his knowledge.

But then Splinter froze as a snake appeared on the screen. His eyes widened and he stared right back at the snake, unable to move. The snake stuck its split tongue out, tasting the air, tasting it for something edible, tasting the air for _him_. Its staring eyes were looking right at him, making his body stiff. He felt like he was weighing a ton and could never move again.

"Sensei?" Donatello asked. "Are you okay?"

A slight flash ran through Splinter's body and he finally managed to drag his eyes away from the snake.

"Yes, Donatello, I am," he said, as he buried his face in his hand. "Just a headache. I'll go back to the dojo."

"Okay, sensei. If you need anything, let me know."

"Thank you, my son."

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><p>Back in the dojo, Splinter sank to his knees, pressing a hand against his forehead. These eyes, these dark, staring eyes, looking for him! This tongue, this split tongue tasting the air to find him!<p>

He shook his head, trying to make this terrible feeling go away. He felt like…prey. No, he _was_ prey! And he hated it!

He took a deep breath. Since when were snakes a problem? They never had been! Not back in Japan, not here in New York, not before…

Yes, not before his mutation. His mutation had turned him into a rat, snake's prey. It was the same with cats. They had never been a problem either before his mutation, now they were. And so were snakes.

Staring eyes, split tongue… He shook his head fiercely. He needed to meditate. Maybe this would make this feeling go away.

He took another deep breath, but before he could calm down, the image of the snake appeared again in front of his mind's eye, sending a cold shiver through his body.

He sighed, concentrating on his breathing and finally reaching the calm state he had been going for.

But deep down inside him he knew that this split tongue, these staring eyes, this _snake_ would be haunting him for a few days…


	6. Worth It

_For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)_

_For red-eyed-jaguar who asked for "Friendship" and "Leatherhead"._

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><p><span><strong>Worth It<strong>

Leatherhead had never thought of himself as someone who would ever have friends. He had always thought of himself as a monster. And a monster he was. An anger-driven, uncontrollable, Kraang-crushing monster.

KRAANG!

The word alone made him growl, made the anger inside him burn so brightly it would make him lose control sooner or later.

He took a deep breath, then another one.

Cleansing breaths, like Michelangelo called them. And it helped. Everything Michelangelo had ever told him helped.

Cleansing breaths helped, remembering that he was safe helped, but even more importantly, the thought of Michelangelo helped, his innocent, trusting face, his kind and wise words.

_Or maybe you just think you're a monster because everyone treats you that way._

Yes, maybe. But he still thought of himself as a monster of some sort, especially when he was angry.

But thanks to Michelangelo and his unswerving faith in the good in everyone's heart, Leatherhead now was a monster with friends. And that was more than he had ever asked for, more than he had ever allowed himself to dream of. And he had realized that he was worth more than he had ever thought. He was worth to have friends.

And Leatherhead had sworn he would always be worth the trust his friends had in him, he would always be worth their friendship.

He would give his life to save his friends. They trusted him, something no one else had ever done before. And he trusted them, with all his heart. They thought he was worth to be their friend, and he would never let anything prove them wrong.

He would fight till the last breath for Michelangelo and his brothers, he would give his life for them without even thinking about it.

They were worth it.


	7. Left Out

_For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)_

_For an anon who asked for "Irma" and "third wheel"._

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><p><span><strong>Left Out<strong>

And again, they had taken off without her. Irma watched Casey and April running down the street because of some emergency at home, but Irma had the bad feeling that this was a lie. There most probably was no emergency at home.

Heck, they hadn't even said at whose home the emergency had occurred! April's or Casey's? Oh, who cared!?

The truth was that they had left her behind again.

Irma lowered her gaze and started walking down the street. This was so unfair! Why didn't they let her in on the fun?

Okay, maybe it wasn't fun, maybe it was dangerous, but she didn't care! She was sick of being left behind. She was forced to miss out and she didn't even know why!

And she was even sure what made her angrier – the fact that her friends – if Casey could be called a friend, that was, which she highly doubted – lied to her or her lack of knowledge of what really was going on? Both hurt, the lack of knowledge maybe a little more. She had always been a curious person.

Plus, Casey's comment about the "third wheel" was still ringing in her head.

It hurt, yes, but what hurt even more was that he was right. She was the third wheel, she truly was!

A cold shiver ran down her spine and she suddenly felt very cold. She crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing her upper arms with her hands, but it didn't help.

She felt so alone, so left out, so very much like the third wheel.

She growled.

It just wasn't fair!

She took out her phone and texted a message to April. She somehow had to phrase her anger.

_Wasn't very nice to ditch me. Again!_

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><p>The reply came in the middle of the night.<p>

_Sorry, Irma, it was an emergency. Had no choice. Wanna watch a movie tomorrow night? To make up for it, the popcorn is on me._

And although Irma was angry and a bit cranky because the message's beep had woken her up and she had hit her hand on the bedside table when she had reached for her glasses, she couldn't help, but smile a little.

At least April still cared about her. She didn't feel that left out any longer.

Plus, she could deal with her lack of knowledge later. She was so going to find out what was going on here!


	8. Always There

_For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)_

_This is for gorgonscales who asked for "Splinter" and "adorableness"._

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><p><span><strong>Always There<strong>

With a sigh Splinter kneeled down on the floor under the tree in the dojo, like he did every night, meditating a little before he went to bed.

He felt so exhausted, so totally exhausted.

One must have thought being a ninja master for so many years would have prepared him to deal with four five-year-old mutant turtles, but no, it hadn't! They were his sons and he loved them to pieces, but he still was very exhausted each and every night after he had brought them to bed, following the descending order of their age, or at least what he had decided this to be. He had no idea whom of them had hatched first, so he had decided to make Leonardo the oldest, then came Raphael, then Donatello, and Michelangelo was the youngest. And this was the order for wishing them a good night, bringing each of them to their rooms – Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo. Michelangelo always took the longest to be tucked in with all his energy that didn't allow him to calm down too quickly, but at some point Splinter always succeeded.

Splinter heard something and quickly opened his eyes, finding said son standing in the entrance of the dojo, hugging his favorite teddy bear to his chest.

"Michelangelo, why aren't you asleep?" Splinter asked, but when he saw the tears in his son's eyes, he frowned. "What happened, my son?"

"Bad dream," the young turtle replied, and Splinter immediately opened his arms.

Mikey darted over to him, burying his little face in his father's chest.

Splinter just rubbed his carapace gently and waited for Mikey to calm down.

"What did you dream, my son?" he asked when Mikey sat up and whipped away his tears with his fingers.

"Monsters! They were chasing me and I was all alone! No one was there! I was so afraid!"

"How terrible," Splinter said. "But you must know, my son, it was pretty obvious that it was just a dream."

Mikey looked at him with big eyes.

"Well, you said you were alone," Splinter explained. "And if some monsters attacked you, you'd never be alone. I'll always be there to protect you."

"But they were biiiiiiig!" Mikey said.

"And your father is a great ninja master. Besides, if I can handle you and your brothers, I think I can handle anything," Splinter replied with a smile, gently pinching Mikey's cheek.

Mikey laughed and playfully slapped Splinter's hand away.

He then looked at his father with his big, trusting eyes.

"Thank you, Daddy!"

He wrapped his arms around Splinter, snuggling into his warm chest.

Splinter just stroked his shell, and pretty soon, Mikey's body relaxed and all that could be heard was his calm breathing as he had fallen asleep right there.

Splinter just looked at Michelangelo with a warm smile.

"I hope you're dreaming of rainbows now, my son."

Mikey mumbled something in his sleep, and Splinter decided to take that as a yes.


	9. Super Mikey

_For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)_

_This is for LimitLine who asked for "Mikey" and "superheroes". :)_

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><p><span><strong>Super Mikey<strong>

Mikey loved it when Splinter came back from his topside-runs. He always had this duffel bag with him, and when he returned, it was full of treasures.

And when Splinter was done with putting the things they absolutely needed in the kitchen – like the food or the dented frying pan or the chopsticks –, he returned to the living room, and what was left in the duffel bag then, was for them, their gifts. It was the moment, Mikey nearly couldn't hold himself back any longer. But he always waited, forcing his little body to remain still on the couch – or as still as he could manage because there always was a little shifting involved.

And tonight was no exception.

His eyes were growing bigger and bigger as Splinter was walking over to the pit, and when he opened the duffel bag when he had reached his waiting sons, Mikey nearly yelped in joy.

His fingers dug into the upholstery and he kicked his heels against the couch, but he somehow managed to remain seated.

He bit down his tongue to prevent another yelp of joy to escape his mouth when Splinter opened the bag and emptied it on the floor.

Last week there had been an action figure in the pile. What could it be today?

He and his brothers waited respectfully until Splinter had stepped back, but this was the sign that they could go through the pile now and look what they wanted to have, and they all lunged for the pile.

Something immediately caught Mikey's eye, some sort of colorful paper, and he managed to reach it before Raph did and pressed his little treasure against his plastron to keep it safe from Raph.

Raph looked a bit angry, but then got distracted by a red toy car.

Miky pressed what turned out to be a comic book a little tighter against his plastron, just in case.

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><p>Back in his room he couldn't wait to start reading. Okay, his reading skills maybe weren't the best, but hey, he was only seven years old, not to mention that he had started out as a pet turtle and his name wasn't Donatello.<p>

It took him a while to get into it, but pretty soon he had figured out what the story of the comic book was about. It was about this man who wore blue pajamas and a red cape and who was super-strong and could fly and saved innocent people.

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><p>Later that night when Splinter checked on his sons, he found Michelangelo jumping up and down on his bed, wearing his baby blanket as a cape.<p>

"Michelangelo, what are you doing?" he asked.

"I want to fly!"

Splinter frowned. "What makes you think you can fly, my son?"

"Because I'm Super Mikey!"


	10. Awesome Little Creatures

_For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)_

_For an anon who asked for "Irma" and "nightmares"._

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><p><strong><span>Awesome Little Creatures<span>**

_"__You're right, Aristotle. She is the perfect test subject."_

_The dark figure was moving towards her, and a pale, bony hand was reaching for her face, coming closer and closer._

_Irma tried to back away, pressing her back against the cold bars of her cage, but the hand was moving closer unaffectedly. _

_Irma squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head to the side. But she knew it was of no use. It was a lost cause. _

_She held her breath, bracing for the inevitable._

_This hand, looking more dead than alive, it was about to touch her face. It was about to touch her face! It was about to…_

Irma awoke with a start, panting for air.

_The Rat King!_, she thought as she buried her face in her hands.

Weeks had passed since she had been his prisoner, and still, this nightmare haunted her every now and then.

Rats had always been such interesting animals for her with their similarities they shared with humans. And she was thankful for what they did to mankind because of these similarities. It was the reason for them being used in scientific experiments.

Sure, it couldn't be that great for most of the rats, considering that some of them died in the process, but for Irma, that was a reason to be even more thankful. At least that was what she thought. If no one was admiring their work, she would.

Or would have.

It was difficult now because whenever she saw a rat, the first thing that came to her mind was the Rat King, making her body flinch with painful memory.

She did her best to overcome this, to look at rats without the Rat King lingering in the back of her head. And she was doing a little better now than she had at the beginning, but it still was hard.

She took a deep breath and realized that her heart rate was at a normal pace again.

As she lied back on the mattress she did her best to push the last remains of her nightmare as far away as she could.

_Maybe tomorrow I can see rats as what they truly are again_, she thought as she closed her eyes. _Awesome little creatures._


	11. Captured

_For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)_

_For an anon who asked for "Irma" and "questions"._

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><p><strong><span>Captured<span>**

Irma sat down on the cot, burying her face in her hands. As much as she loved the color purple, all this purple light in here was making her dizzy. She looked over to the small observation window in the cell door, but quickly turned her head away again when she caught one of these strange robots with the brains in their bellies looking inside.

Her heart started pounding like mad.

_Please go away_, she thought. _Please leave me alone!_

When she risked another peek moments later, she realized the robot was gone again.

She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing the relief wouldn't last longer than the time it took her to finish that breath.

She was locked in a purple cell after all.

And what was even more disturbing, she had no idea why.

This morning when she had left her apartment building, only wearing a scarf – the cold had never been a problem for her, winter, snow, she didn't care – these strange men in business suits that she first had taken for triplets had walked up to her and the same second a van had stopped next to her.

And before she could ask them what they wanted, they had grabbed her. She had struggled, she had struggled a lot, but within seconds they had gagged her and tied her hands up, and the next thing she remembered was being tossed into that van.

After a drive that had felt like it had been going on forever, she had been brought into her cell. On their way she had seen so many other business men that all looked just the same, so she had abandoned her triplets-theory. And there had been these robots, too, these robots with brains in their bellies, strange looking brains with faces.

And then she had been thrown into her cell and stayed there ever since.

Not a word what they wanted from her, no interrogation, no nothing.

They checked on her every now and then, but that was it.

So Irma was alone in her cell, alone with all her questions.

Why had she been kidnapped?

What did they want from her?

Why didn't they tell her anything?

And the most important question of all: Was she going to survive this?


	12. The Merits of Being Young

__For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)__

_This is for unclekoopus who asked for "Splinter" and "Young Again". :)_

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><p><span><strong>The Merits of Being Young<strong>

Donatello was slouching on the couch, his head resting on his arms. One could think that he was just watching TV, but Splinter knew better.

There was this tiny frown on Donnie's face, and the fact that his expression didn't change when the theme song of his favorite science show was playing – something that usually made his face lighten up – was proof enough to Splinter that his son was being sad.

And he could imagine what was making Donnie this sad.

April and Casey had been here for the afternoon. That alone wasn't unusual, they did that quite often. What was unusual was that they had left to go to the movies together – a date, how Casey had called it, although April had denied it and had said that Irma would have joined them if she hadn't caught the flu.

Now Donnie was obviously racking his brains if they really were on a date now and if April had feelings for Casey.

His heart must be aching, and Splinter knew this feeling all too well.

The bittersweet taste of first love, the hope, the desperation, the sleepless nights, all his thoughts only circling around her. Everything was new and precious. Even the feeling that one's heart was falling apart was special.

Yes, Splinter could remember it, all of it. And so he knew that one day this kind of love was replaced by something more mature. But no one ever forgot his first love. He knew he hadn't.

And sometimes he even thought about wanting to experience it all once again, of being young again when there were so many new things to discover, so many things to learn.

He knew that there still were things he could learn and had to learn. But as he got older, they became fewer and fewer.

And when one was young, the world was so full of wonders! Those were the merits of being young, those were the things Splinter missed sometimes.

But when he saw a single tear running down Donatello's cheek he knew that things were good the way they were. Because if he really were young again, he would lack the wisdom to tell his son that things were going to get better, that it would get easier and that he knew that from experience – like he was going to do now.


	13. Only Her Father

_For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)_

_For an anon who asked for "Karai" and "family"._

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><p><strong><span>Only Her Father<span>**

Karai hated to admit it, but there was one thing she envied the turtles for – they had a family. No, they _were_ a family.

Four brothers and a loving father, not related by blood, but related by heart. And she knew how much they cared for each other, how much they loved each other.

She had seen it on that rooftop when Tiger Claw had captured the turtles. She had seen that Leonardo would have done anything to save his baby brother – as would have the others. She had watched how Splinter had thrown himself into a fight with Tiger Claw to save his sons, how he had risked his life, all these feelings in his eyes, the love for his sons, the fear that they could get hurt.

It had touched her heart the teeniest-tiniest bit, although she would never admit it.

She couldn't remember anything about her mother, although there were nights she tried really hard to. It never worked, though. So all she had left was her father. And Shredder never showed his love for her so obviously. She knew he loved her, she knew he cared for her, but he would never hug her or smile at her. They were only glimpses of his love shown in his eyes sometimes, and only she was able to see it. And sometimes, he put a hand on her shoulder. And that was it.

That was how Shredder showed his love for his daughter. And for many years it had been enough. Or at least she had thought so.

But seeing how the turtles and their rat-father cared for each other had awoken the envy deep inside her, had reminded her that maybe she needed a bit more than Shredder's signs of affection.

And then they had welcomed this stupid April O'Neil in their family! This girl was so special, it made Karai sick. The only fact about April O'Neil she could sympathize with was that she had lost her mother just like Karai had. But except from that, Karai hated her for being so perfect. She hated her for having friends, for all this love she was shown.

April O'Neil had friends, she had a family.

Karai only had her father.


	14. Aching

_For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)_

_This is for honorsexual-leonardo who asked for "Leo" and "sickness/pain". :)_

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><p><span><strong>Aching<strong>

There had only been darkness, warm, muffling darkness. No pain.

The pain had started when he had opened his eyes. And it hadn't ended from then on. It was still there, with every movement, every breath he took. It felt like even the blood rushing in his veins was causing pain.

The mutagen-medicine Donnie had manufactured for him made him sick. As soon as the liquid touched his taste buds he gagged, wanted to puke, and sometimes, he couldn't do anything against it. But Donnie said it would help him, so he tried really hard to swallow it and keep it down. He managed, most of the times, but it still made him sick.

It didn't matter, though.

His pain, his sickness, it didn't matter. Not anymore.

He was staring into the flames of the chimney fire.

They wouldn't have told him. They hadn't wanted to tell him. But he had asked, and they had answered.

_Where's Master Splinter?_

The insecure looks they had shared, the uneasy shifting, how they had avoided his eyes.

Until April had spoken up. It was always April, being the bravest in moments like this, the one that was able to say the words everyone else refused to say.

_He was battling Shredder. And…Shredder managed to beat him. He threw him into a drainage. That was the last we've seen of him. But he was alive then, and he still is! I know it!_

His brothers had nodded in affirmation. And Leo had let it pass.

There was nothing he could do anyway. He couldn't go back to New York to look for his father.

Not now. Not while he was still in pain.

He needed to heal first, to get back in shape. It would take a while.

He took a deep breath and it felt like his lungs were on fire or like he was breathing in fire. It hurt.

Pain, again.

And he needed to get past this pain.

But there was one pain he couldn't overcome – the pain deep inside his heart. All of Donnie's medicine wouldn't be able to make this pain go away. It was the pain caused by the fact that maybe he had lost his father, that he didn't know anything about his whereabouts, that he was missing him.

This was what made his heart aching.

And it hurt more than all his wounds and bruises ever could.


	15. One Very Important Question

_For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)_

_This is for an anon who asked for "April" and "question". :)_

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><p><strong><span>One Very Important Question<span> **

April O'Neil was sixteen years old. A normal teenage girl, interested in boys and make-up, one might presume.

And sometimes April wished that was the truth. But it wasn't. As said before, she was far from being normal.

She was the key to an alien invasion, an alien-human-mutant hybrid, so she wasn't even totally human.

But there was one thing that made her life a little bit normal – someone had a crush on her.

Well, the fact that this someone was a mutant turtle made it a bit less normal again, but she could live with that.

It had taken her a while to figure out that Donatello's weird behavior towards her sometimes was caused by the fact that he had a crush on her. She ignored it most of the times or acted like she didn't notice. But she noticed. She noticed everything.

The problem was that she wasn't sure what she felt for Donnie. He was important to her, really important.

But Donnie was starting to get impatient. That was the reason why he had made this music box for her. He wanted an answer from her, especially now that Casey was around and that she and Casey had gotten really close.

April wasn't sure if Casey saw more in her than a friend, but Donnie was worried. And so he got impatient, wanting an answer from her like right now.

But April was far from letting him push her into something she wasn't ready for yet.

He wanted an answer, but she couldn't give him one yet. There were so many things going on already, and she needed more time.

But she didn't want him to give up on her.

That was the reason why she had kissed him – to show him that there was hope. There always was hope.

She just needed time, time to figure out the answer to one very important question.

Did she return Donnie's feelings?


	16. The Perfect Gift

__For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)__

_This is for bloodyredpancakes who asked for "Donatello" and "chocolate". :)_

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><p><span><strong>The Perfect Gift<strong>

Donnie held his breath while he poured the sweet, thick liquid into the chocolate molds. And as always when he was concentrating, he stuck his tongue out – a thing he hadn't realized yet and maybe never would. But it was so Donnie. It was just him.

Finished with filling the chocolate molds he took a deep, relieved breath. Done, finally.

It had taken him weeks to figure out the perfect recipe for these chocolates, April's chocolates. And now they were perfect, the perfect gift.

He knew it wasn't Valentine's Day, and he considered himself lucky, it wasn't. It would have been too obvious that way.

But now, it was just a friend giving his friend chocolates. No special occasion, just because the friend wanted to.

He smiled and sniffed, breathing in the sweet scent of chocolate with a slight whiff of mint.

Yes, this was the perfect recipe, and yes, it had taken weeks to figure it out, failure had been following failure, it had never turned out the way he wanted it to be. It had been good, agreed, but not perfect. Not worthy for an April O'Neil.

It had never been a failure for Mikey, though, because he had always been allowed to eat the failed chocolates. Although Donnie had never told him they had been failures. He had just told him that he had made chocolates because he had felt like doing so.

His brothers made enough fun of him already because of his crush on April. They didn't need to know everything.

And now these chocolates were perfect, Donnie thought as he put them into the fridge to cool down, and smiled.

All he could do now was waiting until they were ready and he could press them out of the molds and put them into the chocolate box he had made. Or maybe he could add some more decoration to that box while waiting. The box and everything he needed for that were in his lab.

He nodded and left the kitchen.

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><p>When he came back later, he found Mikey sitting at the table and munching on something.<p>

Donnie didn't really care, but when he opened the fridge he froze.

The chocolates, they were gone!

Then it dawned on him and he slowly, really slowly turned to face Mikey.

And there it was – the proof.

Mikey's mouth was smeared with chocolate, and he smiled.

"These ones were really good!" he said, his voice still a bit muffled by the chocolate in his mouth.

All Donnie wanted to do now was punch his little brother really, really hard, but he couldn't. It would give him away.

So he just nodded and whispered, "Thanks!"

And then he left, left for the lab where an empty chocolate box with a really beautiful decoration would stay empty for a little longer.

Maybe he should stay in the kitchen next time.


	17. No One Knew

_For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)_

_This is for an anon who asked for "Irma" and "sorrow". :)_

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><p><span><strong>No One Knew<strong>

Irma always did her best to keep her guard up, to be what she was supposed to be – an intelligent girl, loveable, nice, with a sharp intellect. For some she was a geek. Some didn't like it when she managed to detect their lies and real motives so easily, but that was her, if they liked it or not.

This was the Irma she had chosen to be.

All these years ago, she had made this decision, this day, when she had locked away the sorrow about her loss deep inside her where no one could find it, except for her. And sometimes, even she forgot about it.

But it was there, and every now and then it managed to creep out of its cell and overwhelm her, and she gave in to the aching, the pain, the tears for a little while. But then she fought the sorrow back where it belonged.

It belonged in this cell Irma had built inside her, just for her sorrow to lock it away.

No one needed to know about it, no one needed to know about what had caused it.

And no one knew.

Not even April, her best friend for a year now.

No one knew, but Irma – and sometimes, she wished she didn't know either.


	18. Not Only Friends

_For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)_

_This is for an anon who asked for "family" and "April". :)_

_By the way, I got several requests in reviews here on FanFiction. Just to remind you, this is a TUMBLR-challenge, so if you have requests, please send them via ask there. Thank you! ^^_

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><p><strong><span>Not Only Friends<span>**

April was sitting on the couch. It was Friday and this meant: movie night! It had become a weekly habit of her and her new friends to watch a movie together every Friday.

Leo and Raph were having an argument about what movie to watch while Donnie tried to prevent them from jumping at each other's throats. Mikey was in the kitchen, preparing their snacks, and luckily, they had been able to talk him out of trying something new and instead settle for popcorn and pizza gyoza like they usually had on their movie night.

So everything was normal. Well, as normal as being friends with mutant turtles living in the sewers could be.

But something was new, although April couldn't quite put her finger on it. Something was different, but different in a good way.

There was this feeling in her stomach, this warm, calming feeling.

And the moment Mikey walked into the living room, had a seat next to her and offered her some popcorn, it struck her.

This feeling was about feeling safe, one-hundred percent safe.

She had only felt it before with her father.

This feeling she had only felt with her family.

With a smile she took some popcorn and shoved it into her mouth.

_Looks like they aren't only friends to me_, she thought. _They're family._


	19. Hold It Down

_For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)_

_This is for an anon who asked for "April" and "Dare (as in the Gorillaz' song)". :)_

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><p><span><strong>Hold It Down<strong>

April was used to show her feelings. She never had to choke an emotion before. She had always showed her feelings freely, without doubts, without second thoughts.

But now there was this voice inside her head.

_You know you can't do it_, this voice would say. _You've always been bad at it._

_I am not bad at it_, she would answer. _I can do it. And I will!_

_Well, then_, the voice would continue. _Prove it. Hold it down, this precious feeling of yours. Dare!_

And then she would hold it down. Because she had to. No matter how mocking this voice was, it was right. She had to hold this one feeling down because now was not the time for it. It would hurt others if she let it out. So she held it down with all her strength.

And the voice kept mocking her, telling her she couldn't do it, daring her.

But so far she succeeded. And she would continue succeeding because she had to. Until the time was right.

April just hoped that the time would be right for it one day. She really, really hoped.


	20. Obedience

_For my drabble-challenge over on tumblr; for more info, please check my profile here. ;)_

_This is for purplefern who asked for "Bradford" and "family". :)_

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><p><strong><span>Obedience<span>**

Chris Bradford had no family. Not anymore. The day he had become Shredder's pupil, Shredder had told him to give up on his family. And he had obeyed.

Shredder was his master. He commanded, and Chris obeyed. This was what subordinates did. They obeyed.

It took some of them years to learn their lesson in obedience. Chris had mastered the first time. He had mastered it when he had left his family just because Shredder had told him to do so.

And he would do it again. Without hesitation.

He knew his family was out there, alive, hopefully. He still thought about them every once in a while.

Thinking about them wasn't disobeying Shredder. Thoughts were upon obedience. No one could control them. He knew because he had tried.

But sometimes, a thought slipped through the invisible wall he had built and made its way to his family. And it was okay, because as long as it was only thoughts, it wasn't disobedience.

And as long as it was feelings he didn't show it wasn't disobedience either.

That was the reason he never showed his true feelings when it came to his family. Because he missed them.

And Shredder was never going to find out. Chris was Shredder's best pupil and he would never disobey his master.


End file.
